The cloud is great if you have web access. If for some reason you don't, you're SOL. The only way I'd use iCloud would be in the same way I use Dropbox. The document gets saved to my desktop, and then I move a copy onto Dropbox so it's available on other computers. But to save the document only to the cloud is professional suicide.

#1. I already have them on my desktop and iPad. Why would I want to use the cloud version??

#2 . I've found the iPad version is not as capable as the desktop version. WHICH version is the iCloud one? IF it's like the iPad version, it only gives you bare minimum functions. I rarely use it on iPad except to open files... working on them on the iPad is a chore.

Pages looks fairly full featured as far as my purposes go. Of course, it doesn't work with Pages '08 which is what I have installed on my desktop machine. Accessing it via my iPhone would probably be a PITA, too. If the need should arise, and I had to create a document while away from home (and a Mac), this would certainly be a viable option. I've had zero need for Numbers and Keynote, though. I might just have to upgrade my copy of Pages just to see how this works - it does work with Lion, right?

The iCloud versions of iWork are simply a way to create/edit files on the web - much like the iOS versions, it's limited and not meant to be full-featured. Any files you create or edit in iCloud are synced to your iOS and desktop Mac versions of iWork.

Yes, I know that they're synced to other devices, but the syncing and the actual document reside in the cloud. If you don't have access to the web, you don't have access to the document. I was just with very irregular and intermittent web access for a week and a half. No access to anything in the cloud.

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